Insurance for cyclists again

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Wanlock Dod
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Insurance for cyclists again

Post by Wanlock Dod »

Lord Winston calls for urban cyclists to be licensed and insured from road.cc.

Surely a driving license already represents the gold standard of licensing on the road? I wonder how many adult cyclists in towns and cities don’t already have a driving licence.

If the concern is about danger to pedestrians then perhaps presumed liability would be a better option, except of course that it would also have implications for motorists looking where they are going.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Wanlock Dod wrote:..
I wonder how many adult cyclists in towns and cities don't already have a driving licence
..

Many fewer young adults learn to drive now than a couple of decades ago, Plus One!

In London many prosperous people do not bother getting a vehicle, maybe many do not have a licence either

Driving licence gold standard? Means a test was passed, often decades ago, nothing since :?
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mjr
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by mjr »

Wanlock Dod wrote:Lord Winston calls for urban cyclists to be licensed and insured from road.cc.

Surely a driving license already represents the gold standard of licensing on the road? I wonder how many adult cyclists in towns and cities don’t already have a driving licence.

If the concern is about danger to pedestrians then perhaps presumed liability would be a better option, except of course that it would also have implications for motorists looking where they are going.

Lord Winston is acting in an unscientific bigoted manner yet again. He needs to get out cycling to improve his mood!

Driving licensing is rubbish but the best we have. I think about 85% of adult cyclists hold one (source: The AA, 2015), which is higher than the general population average of 75%. More will have passed the tests but surrendered for medical or other reasons. (A different more official and more explicit source is https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?i ... 9a.53988.h but that's for the slightly different stat "83% of the cyclists [...] were resident in a household with access to a car". It makes the 85% more credible, though.)

I wonder what proportion of cyclists already have third party insurance through home insurance, club membership, bike theft insurance or otherwise.

I agree that presumed liablity would be good but we shouldn't expect an old white man in a limo to propose that.
Last edited by mjr on 18 Mar 2019, 5:34pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Phil Fouracre
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by Phil Fouracre »

Agree! Weird that someone eminent in his field, therefore assumed to be ‘relatively intelligent’ can hold such views. Read about a judge a while ago who felt that ‘in the interests of safety’ cyclists shouldn’t cycle on the road! Don’t know quite how you combat this sort of attitude :-(
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MikeF
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by MikeF »

Presumably he wants signs at the boundaries of the "urban areas" to inform cyclists they are entering such an area. :roll: :roll:
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thirdcrank
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by thirdcrank »

mjr wrote: ... I think about 85% of adult cyclists hold one (source: The AA, 2015), which is higher than the general population average of 75%. ...


It would be interesting to know how many drivers hold a driving licence. Going from the stuff published by the MIB about uninsured drivers, quite a lot don't. Being on the telly can be heady stuff and controversy is the way to get another fix.
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mjr
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by mjr »

MikeF wrote:Presumably he wants signs at the boundaries of the "urban areas" to inform cyclists they are entering such an area. :roll: :roll:

We've long resisted such signs and relied on the presence of street lights but neighbouring countries do have such signs.
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MikeF
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by MikeF »

Wanlock Dod wrote:
If the concern is about danger to pedestrians then perhaps presumed liability would be a better option, except of course that it would also have implications for motorists looking where they are going.
As I understand it presumed liability means for insurance purposes and not who's to blame. Therefore it probably wouldn't make much difference at all, other than an increased premium in the event of a claim.
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Oldjohnw
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by Oldjohnw »

The Government rejected Winston's request.
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by Barks »

Is there any indication of why he holds these views as opposed to campaigning on uninsured/unlicensed drivers for instance?
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by Cyril Haearn »

thirdcrank wrote:
mjr wrote: ... I think about 85% of adult cyclists hold one (source: The AA, 2015), which is higher than the general population average of 75%. ...


It would be interesting to know how many drivers hold a driving licence. Going from the stuff published by the MIB about uninsured drivers, quite a lot don't. Being on the telly can be heady stuff and controversy is the way to get another fix.

One imagines nearly all drivers -can- cycle :wink:
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kwackers
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by kwackers »

Phil Fouracre wrote:Agree! Weird that someone eminent in his field, therefore assumed to be ‘relatively intelligent’ can hold such views. Read about a judge a while ago who felt that ‘in the interests of safety’ cyclists shouldn’t cycle on the road! Don’t know quite how you combat this sort of attitude :-(

Intelligence is often used as a tool to strengthen dodgy views rather than disprove them.
ThePinkOne
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by ThePinkOne »

From the radio this morning I gather he raised the registration thing too.

/sarcasm alert on/

As registration is obviously so good at stopping people do bad things :roll: how's about we bring in a knife user registration? All people who needed to use knives for cooking etc would get their registration and the toerags who use knives to mug people obviously wouldn't....

/sarcasm alert off/

This is the same logic Winston is using.

Winston is bringing scientists into disrepute. Maybe should find out what professional bodies he belongs to and lodge a complaint :evil:

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softlips
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by softlips »

He has claimed to have been attacked by a ‘well educated’ woman who was cycling on the foot path. He didn’t notify the Police as they’d do nothing as it wouldn’t be possible to trace the alleged culprit.

Now I’ve always liked Lord Winston but what he’s saying doesn’t ring true. Central London, no evidence, in the city with more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in the world?
kwackers
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Re: Insurance for cyclists again

Post by kwackers »

softlips wrote:He has claimed to have been attacked by a ‘well educated’ woman who was cycling on the foot path. He didn’t notify the Police as they’d do nothing as it wouldn’t be possible to trace the alleged culprit.

Now I’ve always liked Lord Winston but what he’s saying doesn’t ring true. Central London, no evidence, in the city with more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in the world?

Even with identification the reality of it is the police won't do anything without collaborative evidence.
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